Continuing professional development for medical, nursing, and midwifery cadres in Malawi, Tanzania and South Africa: A qualitative evaluation.
As innovations in the prevention and treatment of HIV and TB advance, continuing professional development (CPD) of health care workers (HCWs) remains a high priority, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where dual TB/HIV epidemics are compounded by severe HCW shortages. There is further need to exami...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2017-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5645103?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1818132041043017728 |
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| author | Caryl Feldacker Jillian Pintye Sheena Jacob Michael H Chung Lyn Middleton Jill Iliffe H Nina Kim |
| author_facet | Caryl Feldacker Jillian Pintye Sheena Jacob Michael H Chung Lyn Middleton Jill Iliffe H Nina Kim |
| author_sort | Caryl Feldacker |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As innovations in the prevention and treatment of HIV and TB advance, continuing professional development (CPD) of health care workers (HCWs) remains a high priority, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where dual TB/HIV epidemics are compounded by severe HCW shortages. There is further need to examine CPD programs to identify challenges and effective solutions to strengthen HIV/TB-related CPD.Qualitative evaluations in Malawi, Tanzania and South Africa (RSA) were conducted using key informant interviews (KIIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) in each country to identify barriers and enablers of effective HIV/TB-related CPD. Key stakeholders represented CPD implementers, regulators, and developers. HCWs were purposively sampled from high disease burden districts; each HCW completed brief, semi-structured questionnaires and participated in a FGD. KII and FGD results were combined into key themes spanning across countries using a grounded theory approach.Fifty-two KIIs were conducted: 17 in Malawi, 19 in Tanzania and 16 in RSA. Eighty-nine HCWs (24 from Malawi, 38 from Tanzania and 27 from RSA) completed questionnaires and participated in FGDs. Primarily, lack of sustainable financial resources and limitations in coordination of CPD result in poor accountability for CPD oversight and reduce CPD quality assurance. Healthcare worker shortages limit CPD opportunities, creating disparities in CPD access. CPD irrelevance and imbalance between HCW-identified CPD needs and current programs reduce enthusiasm for CPD. Facility-level constraints, including poor infrastructure and weak supply chains, restrict implementation of CPD skills and knowledge. Challenges are more severe in rural settings.To address identified gaps, sustainable funding, strong leadership and collaboration at every level are needed to strengthen CPD regulation and accreditation systems; increase CPD accessibility in the workplace; and create enabling environments for CPD implementation. Together, these improvements may improve TB/HIV CPD quality and patient outcomes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T08:30:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-eaf165ddd8354b7b9d266c8d39074a16 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T08:30:31Z |
| publishDate | 2017-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-eaf165ddd8354b7b9d266c8d39074a162022-12-22T01:14:29ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032017-01-011210e018607410.1371/journal.pone.0186074Continuing professional development for medical, nursing, and midwifery cadres in Malawi, Tanzania and South Africa: A qualitative evaluation.Caryl FeldackerJillian PintyeSheena JacobMichael H ChungLyn MiddletonJill IliffeH Nina KimAs innovations in the prevention and treatment of HIV and TB advance, continuing professional development (CPD) of health care workers (HCWs) remains a high priority, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where dual TB/HIV epidemics are compounded by severe HCW shortages. There is further need to examine CPD programs to identify challenges and effective solutions to strengthen HIV/TB-related CPD.Qualitative evaluations in Malawi, Tanzania and South Africa (RSA) were conducted using key informant interviews (KIIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) in each country to identify barriers and enablers of effective HIV/TB-related CPD. Key stakeholders represented CPD implementers, regulators, and developers. HCWs were purposively sampled from high disease burden districts; each HCW completed brief, semi-structured questionnaires and participated in a FGD. KII and FGD results were combined into key themes spanning across countries using a grounded theory approach.Fifty-two KIIs were conducted: 17 in Malawi, 19 in Tanzania and 16 in RSA. Eighty-nine HCWs (24 from Malawi, 38 from Tanzania and 27 from RSA) completed questionnaires and participated in FGDs. Primarily, lack of sustainable financial resources and limitations in coordination of CPD result in poor accountability for CPD oversight and reduce CPD quality assurance. Healthcare worker shortages limit CPD opportunities, creating disparities in CPD access. CPD irrelevance and imbalance between HCW-identified CPD needs and current programs reduce enthusiasm for CPD. Facility-level constraints, including poor infrastructure and weak supply chains, restrict implementation of CPD skills and knowledge. Challenges are more severe in rural settings.To address identified gaps, sustainable funding, strong leadership and collaboration at every level are needed to strengthen CPD regulation and accreditation systems; increase CPD accessibility in the workplace; and create enabling environments for CPD implementation. Together, these improvements may improve TB/HIV CPD quality and patient outcomes.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5645103?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Caryl Feldacker Jillian Pintye Sheena Jacob Michael H Chung Lyn Middleton Jill Iliffe H Nina Kim Continuing professional development for medical, nursing, and midwifery cadres in Malawi, Tanzania and South Africa: A qualitative evaluation. PLoS ONE |
| title | Continuing professional development for medical, nursing, and midwifery cadres in Malawi, Tanzania and South Africa: A qualitative evaluation. |
| title_full | Continuing professional development for medical, nursing, and midwifery cadres in Malawi, Tanzania and South Africa: A qualitative evaluation. |
| title_fullStr | Continuing professional development for medical, nursing, and midwifery cadres in Malawi, Tanzania and South Africa: A qualitative evaluation. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Continuing professional development for medical, nursing, and midwifery cadres in Malawi, Tanzania and South Africa: A qualitative evaluation. |
| title_short | Continuing professional development for medical, nursing, and midwifery cadres in Malawi, Tanzania and South Africa: A qualitative evaluation. |
| title_sort | continuing professional development for medical nursing and midwifery cadres in malawi tanzania and south africa a qualitative evaluation |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5645103?pdf=render |
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